Technology and Innovation

Geopolitical risk: raw materials and technological dependence
Future Technology, Technology and Innovation

Geopolitical risk: raw materials and technological dependence

By *Raquel Jorge Ricart Raw materials are the great overlooked in the global technological competition. In 1992 the father of China’s economic revolution, Deng Xiaoping, said that ‘the Middle East has the oil, but China has the rare earths’. Rare earths, and critical raw materials in general, have been the great forgotten commodities in the geopolitical competition of recent years, which has largely focused on which country dominates certain technologies –artificial intelligence, semiconductors and so many others– and not so much on what means were necessary to achieve dominance. China controls 36.7% of global rare earth reserves. Brazil and Vietnam, the next countries on the list, together stockpile as much as China does alone (18.3% each). They are followed by Russia, with 10% of ...
Technology remains key to geopolitical success
Technology and Innovation

Technology remains key to geopolitical success

BY BRAD GLOSSERMAN * The quest to master the development of new technologies has been a defining characteristic of modern Japan. Commodore Matthew C. Perry’s 1853 visit demonstrated the necessity of technological superiority to secure the nation’s defense; the naval officer’s “invitation” to open to the outside world was issued by the guns and cannons with which his fleet was armed. It was a compelling request. Recognition of Japan’s backwardness prompted the Meiji Restoration and frantic efforts to catch up. Among the goals of the Iwakura Mission to the United States and Europe between 1871 and 1873 was a study of national industrial structures and the technologies that they produced. While the link between technology and national defense was clear when Perry’s fleet sailed into Ed...
Latin America, Caribbean Achieves Capability in Using Nuclear Techniques to Respond to Natural Disasters
Technology and Innovation

Latin America, Caribbean Achieves Capability in Using Nuclear Techniques to Respond to Natural Disasters

It is the second-most-disaster-prone region in the world. Latin America and the Caribbean is vulnerable to natural events like earthquakes, floods and hurricanes owing to its unique tectonic structure and weather patterns. With climate change further exacerbating the impact of these vulnerabilities, the region urgently needed capacity to assess the safety and integrity of built structures following natural disasters, particularly in urban areas. With the IAEA’s help, the region has achieved self-reliance in these capacities. Four response centres, able to evaluate the integrity of civil structures like roads and bridges in their own and neighbouring countries using nuclear non-destructive testing (NDT) techniques, have been established in Argentina, Chile, Mexico and Peru, with IAEA assis...
The PLA’s Strategic Support Force and AI Innovation
Technology and Innovation

The PLA’s Strategic Support Force and AI Innovation

In recent years, as progress in artificial intelligence (AI) has accelerated, nearly every major power has pledged to develop advanced AI capabilities and effectively integrate AI into their armed forces. Yet none have pursued those efforts as purposefully as China. Not only has Beijing issued an ambitious plan to make China the world’s leading AI power by 2030, but the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has unveiled an aggressive innovation-driven strategy for the Chinese military, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Likewise, Xi Jinping, the General Secretary of the CCP, has consistently emphasized China’s commitment to AI development and “intelligent warfare”– most recently in his landmark report this fall to the 20th Party Congress. If China’s strategic ambitions for AI are clear, ho...